How Christmas Is Supposed To Be
by emergency-fan-51
Summary: CR-S01 gets out of prison just in time to spend Christmas with the rest of the Trauma Team :D Secret Santa from deviantART, it's a little late but enjoy anyway :


How Christmas Is Supposed To Be

I turned around just in time to see something white hurtling at me. The snowball nailed me in the face, making me stumble backwards. Maria stood in the middle of Tomoe's snowy yard, laughing.

_'Nice Christmas present, Doctor Torres.'_ I thought to myself as I scraped the snow from my eyes. _'Fresh out of prison, and you congratulate me with a snowball to the face.'_

Thankfully she was laughing too hard to notice her target returning fire. My snowball hit her in the shoulder, spraying snow everywhere.

The whole yard instantly became a battle field as the rest of the party-goers joined the fight. Snowballs flew in all directions, hitting everyone but Alyssa and Joshua hiding behind their massive snowman.

A few minutes later, we found ourselves divided into teams. Maria, Tomoe and I behind one snow fort, Gabriel, Hank and Naomi behind the other.

Maria risked a peek over the top. "Quit hiding! C'mon out and stop fighting like a girl!" I grabbed her sleeve and yanked her down, a snowball whizzing past her head. We heard Gabe yell "You're one to talk!" from the other side of the yard.

"He's right," Tomoe theorized, "it's dishonourable to cower behind your walls in battle. We need an offensive strategy."

Maria leaned back and screamed at the top of her lungs. "HEY GABE! IS THAT YOUR FACE OR ARE YOU MOONING US?"

I couldn't help myself, a small grin broke my indifferent facade. But Tomoe just stared at her. "Not THAT kind of offensive, Maria..."

The paramedic smirked. "Well soooooorry, I couldn't think of anything better."

"That was rather lame..." Naomi mumbled.

"No kidding. Everyone knows my face is flawless anyways."

"It might be if you shaved more often."

Hank crouched silently, half-listening to their banter. He was too focused on thinking up a strategy to join in.

"What're you talking about? Its part of my look!" Gabe waggled his eyebrows. "Doesn't my rugged appearance just scream sexy?"

"To a cat, maybe. Is that your hair or did something die on your head?"

"Hey!"

"Um, guys? Do you hear the others anymore?" Hank whispered.

The trio went quiet, listening intently for any incriminating sound. But there was nothing, not even the crunch of boots in the snow.

Hank thought he heard whispering. He was about to say so when I cried "Now!" from the other side of the wall. Maria and I leaped up, arms loaded with snowballs, and started pelting our friends. Completely off guard our victims fell backwards, trying to cover their faces. They didn't notice Tomoe and the children pushing against the snowman until it was too late. The bulbous creation tipped, and with a loud crunch fell on top of them.

The battle won, the five heroes cheered. Joshua and Alyssa were gasping for air from laughing too hard. Gabriel took the opportunity to grab his son's ankle and pull it out from under him. Now it was a wrestling match, the diagnostician against his son. Alyssa jumped in to rescue her friend. The rest of us helped our defeated coworkers to their feet.

"This is great..." I thought outloud.

I didn't notice Tomoe right beside me. "What is?"

"Well...this. Christmas was never like this with Professor Sartre, and there _was_ no Christmas for me for 8 years. But this... Being with friends, having fun, without a care in the world... I feel like this is how it's supposed to be."

"It is." Tomoe smiled, bright-eyed. "The holidays have always been about family and friendship. That said, I'm really, really glad you could join us this year. I know you're special to everyone here in some way, and I speak for all of us when I say that we missed you. Welcome back."

No one had ever said anything like that to me before. I urged the tears in my eyes to stay there, determined not to show it. But a smile forced it's way onto my face, and there was no way anything could erase it.

Gabe ended up with both kids sitting on him. "Ok, ok, you got me. Now get off, I can't breathe..."

"Then how are you talking?" Joshua countered. Alyssa giggled.

Gabe shrugged. "Well fine, if you don't want presents..."

His trump card worked. Without a moment of hesitation his captors bailed, rolling off one side in a giggling heap. They ran inside and began kicking off their boots.

"I suppose now is a good a time as ever," grinned Tomoe. "Let's head inside."

"It was nice of you to let them win." I said in a low voice as I offered Doctor Cunningham a hand.

He took it and I pulled him up. "What are you- I mean... Yeahhh... I let them win. Let's go with that."

I tried to muffle my laughter with my hands, with little success. Yes, this was how Christmas was supposed to be. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.


End file.
